Disposable inflatable tourniquet

ABSTRACT

A disposable plastic tourniquet which includes an inflatable elongated envelope formed from three layers of vinyl plastic, of which one layer extends from one end of the envelope to form a long tongue. A sheet of stiffening material is positioned between two of the layers of vinyl to increase the contact surface, and a strip of pressure sensitive tape extends from each side of the envelope to engage the tongue and lock the tourniquet in possition on the patient.

United States Patent Hazlewood 1 June 20, 1972 [54] DISPOSABLEINFLATABLE 2,045,750 6/1936 Buschenfeldt ..l28/327 TOURNIQUET 2,481,9249/1949 Hanafin 2,582,123 1/1952 Heitz ..l28/327 X [72] Inventor: LewisF. Hazlewood, Marlton, NJ.

73 Assi nee: 'Walter 8r Kidde Com Inc. B lleville, PrimaryExamin"chaning Pace I 8 Ni puny e Attorney-Harvey W. Mortimer, MorrisRelson, Robert R.

Keegan, Gordon D. Coplein and William F. Dudine, Jr. [22] Filed: Feb. 9,1970 21 Appl. No.: 9,675 [57] ABSTRACT A disposable plastic tourniquetwhich includes an inflatable elongated envelope formed from three layersof vinyl plastic, ((gl of which one layer extends from one end of theenvelope to l 58] Fieid 128/327 form a long tongue. A sheet ofstiffening material is positioned between two of the layers of vinyl toincrease the Contact sup face, and a strip of pressure sensitive tapeextends from each [56] References cued side of the envelope to engagethe tongue and lock the tour- UNITED STATES PATENTS V niquet inpossition on the patient.

3,120,846 2/1964 Fletcher 128/327 6 Claims, 5 Drawing FiguresPATENTEDJum 1972 SHEET 10F 2 mvsu-ron LEWIS F-HAZLEVIOOD- PATENTinJuuzom2 SHEET 20F 2 INVENTOR LEWIS FJIAZLEWOOD AGENT The present inventionrelates to hemostatic devices, and, more particularly, to tourniquets ofthe type which are wrapped around a body member and are inflated toprovide the pressure for controlling blood flow.

In the past, inflatable toumiquets have been relatively expensive andhave generally been constructed of a material such as Neoprene which issusceptable to beingsoiled, particularly by blood, and can be difficultto sterilize for reuse.

Tourniquets are one of the frequently used emergency treatment devicesand therefore are generally carried on ambulances. A tourniquet appliedby an ambulance crew to a patient remains on the patient until the woundis surgically closed at thereceiving hospital. Ambulance crews notconnected with the receiving hospital, for example volunteer First AidSquad crews, cannot wait for the surgical procedure to be completed andtherefore are forced toleave their tourniquet behind with no assuranceas to when or if it will be returned. In many instances, particularly ifthe wound is severe, the tourniquet is so blood soaked that it isdiscarded.

Tourniquets are also used in hospitals during certain routine surgicalprocedures. While these devices are not lost, they are frequently soiledto an extent which makes cleaning and sterilizing difficult orimpossible.

SUMMARY In view of the foregoing it is an object of the presentinvention to provide an inexpensive, safe and effective inflatabletourniquet.

Another object is to provide such a device which has an inexpensive andeffective locking arrangement.

Another object is to provide such a device constructed of thin plasticwhich contacts the limb of the patients body over a wide annular area toprevent damage to the limb.

The foregoing objects are accomplished by providing an elongatedinflatable envelope for. wrapping around a body member, a tongueextending from one end of the envelope to be wrapped over'the envelope,stiffening means for increasing the contact surface of the envelope withthe body member, and adhesive strip means for cooperating with thetongue for locking the tourniquet in position about the body member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred embodimentof the inventionhas been chosen for purposes of illustration and description, and isshown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a disposable tourniquet according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2--2 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the device of FIG. 1 wrapped about a bodymember (shown by phantom lines) with one strip of tape in position overthe tongue member.

FIG. 4 is fragmentary isometric view showing the tongue in the doubledback condition with the second strip of tape in locking position.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the envelope member in its inflatedcondition.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings thereis shown a disposable inflatable tourniquet according to the presentinvention which includes an envelope member 10, a tongue member 11, astrip of pressure sensitive tape 12, and a gas inlet 14.

The envelope member is formed from an elongate generally rectangularupper sheet of thin vinyl plastic, one end of which forms the tonguemember 11, a lower sheet 16 of heavy vinyl plastic, an intermediatesheet 17 of heavy vinyl plastic, and a sheet 19 of stiffening material.The stiffening sheet 19 is shorter and narrower than the intermediatevinyl sheet 17 and is positioned between the upper vinyl sheet 15and'the sheet 17. The sheets 15 and 17 are provided with alignedopenings 20 and 21 and are heat sealed together around the openings. Thesheets l5, l6 and 17 are heat sealed together along a peripherial area18 extending around the edge of the sheets 16 and 17. The sheetl9 is apiece of stiff board made of paper or the like which. is sufficientlyflexible to permit bending along its long dimension and sufficientlystiff to resist bending along its short dimension.

The length of pressure sensitive tape 12 is attached to the underside ofthe sheet 16 and extends transversely of the envelope member 10preferably at an angle to a line perpendicular to the longitudinal axisof the envelope. The length of tape l2'has a center section 24 fromwhich the protective backing has been removed, and two end sections 25and 26, which are provided with protective backing strips 27 and 28. Thesections 25 and 26 are longer than the envelope 10 is wide so'that thetongue may be securely fastened to the envelope as describedhereinafter. The tape section 24 is secured to the envelope member 10 bypressing it against the underside thereof.

The gas inlet 14 includes a moulded plastic fitting 29 ccmented to theenvelope in alignment with openings 20 and 21, and a hose 30 cementedinto the fitting 29.

In use, the tourniquet, in its deflated condition, is wrapped around alimb of the patients body starting with the free end of the envelopemember. As shown in FIG. 3, the other end of the envelope overlaps thefree end and the tongue 11 is wrapped around over the envelope. Thebacking strip 27 is removed from the tape section 25 and the tapesection is applied over the tongue and is wrapped] under the envelope tohold the tongue against the envelope.

The tongue 11 is doubled back upon itself as shown in FIG. 4. Thebacking strip 28 is removed from the tape section 26, and the tapesection is applied over the doubled back portion of the tongue andwrapped under the envelope to lock the tongue in position and preventslipping.

The hose 30 is connected to a source of compressed gas and the envelopemember 10 inflates decreasing the inner diameter ofthe wrappedtourniquet to apply pressure to the pa,- tients limb and restrict bloodflow.

With reference to FIG. 5, as the envelope inflates, the stiffener l9resists the natural inclination of the envelope 10 to assume a circularcross-section. The pressure in the envelope causes only a slight bendingof the stiffener 19 and the sealed edges of the sheets 16 and 17 areprevented from moving inward to any appreciable degree. The envelopetherefore assumes an eliptical rather than a circular cross-section andcontacts the limb over a wide annular area. The pressure applied by thetourniquet to the limb is distributed over a substantial area so as toprevent damage to the limb which could occur if the pressure was appliedalong the narrow annular zone of contact that would result if thetourniquet were of circular cross-section.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the present invention providesan inexpensive, safe, and effective disposable inflatable tourniquetwhich has an inexpensive and effective locking arrangement, isconstructed of thin plastic, and contacts the patients body member overa wide annular area to prevent damage to the body member.

I claim:

1. A disposable inflatable tourniquet including in combination anelongated inflatable envelope member for wrapping around a body member,a tongue member extending from one end of the envelope to be wrappedover at least a portion of the envelope, stiffening means carried bysaid envelope for increasing the contact surface of the envelope withthe'body member when inflated, and adhesive strip means on said envelopefor cooperating with said tongue for holding the tourniquet in positionabout the body member, said adhesive strip means including a length ofadhesive tape extending from one side of said envelope for placementover said tongue member to hold said tongue member against saidenvelope, and a second length of adhesive tape extending from the otherside of said envelope, said tongue member being of sufficient length toextend past said first length of tape and be doubled back upon itself,and said second length of tape being for placement over the doubled backportion of said tongue member to lock said tongue member againstslipping.

2. A tourniquet according to claim 1 wherein said first and secondlengths of tape are longer than said tongue member is wide so that thefree ends of said lengths of tape engage said envelope member.

3. A tourniquet according to claim 2 wherein said lengths of tape areprovided with a pressure sensitive adhesive.

4. A tourniquet according to claim 1 wherein said envelope is formedfrom an upper layer of plastic material, an intermediate layer ofplastic material, and a lower body contacting layer of plastic material,and wherein said stiffening means is positioned between said upper andsaid intermediate layers of plastic material, said upper and saidintermediate and said lower layers of plastic material being sealedtogether around the edges thereof, said intermediate and said lowerlayers of plastic material providing an inflatable chamber.

5. A tourniquet according to claim 4 wherein said intermediate and lowerlayers of plastic material are of substantially equal length and saidupper layer extends past one end of the other layers of plastic materialto provide said tongue member.

6. A tourniquet according to claim 5 wherein said upper and intermediatelayers of plastic material are provided with aligned openings, a fittingis attached to said envelope member in alignment with said openings, andsaid upper and intermediate layers of plastic material are sealedtogether around said openings.

1. A disposable inflatable tourniquet including in combination anelongated inflatable envelope member for wrapping around a body member,a tongue member extending from one end of the envelope to be wrappedover at least a portion of the envelope, stiffening means carried bysaid envelope for increasing the contact surface of the envelope withthe body member when inflated, and adhesive strip means on said envelopefor cooperating with said tongue for holding the tourniquet in positionabout the body member, said adhesive strip means including a length ofadhesive tape extending from one side of said envelope for placementover said tongue member to hold said tongue member against saidenvelope, and a second length of adhesive tape extending from the otherside of said envelope, said tongue member being of sufficient length toextend past said first length of tape and be doubled back upon itself,and said second length of tape being for placement over the doubled backportion of said tongue member to lock said tongue member againstslipping.
 2. A tourniquet according to claim 1 wherein said first andsecond lengths of tape are longer than said tongue member is wide sothat the free ends of said lengths of tape engage said envelope member.3. A tourniquet according to claim 2 wherein said lengths of tape areprovided with a pressure sensitive adhesive.
 4. A tourniquet accordingto claim 1 wherein said envelope is formed from an upper layer ofplastic material, an intermediate layer of plastic material, and a lowerbody contacting layer of plastic material, and wherein said stiffeningmeans is positioned between said upper and said intermediate layers ofplastic material, said upper and said intermediate and said lower layersof plastic material being sealed together around the edges thereof, saidintermediate and said lower layers of plastic material providing aninflatable chamber.
 5. A tourniquet according to claim 4 wherein saidintermediate and lower layers of plastic material are of substantiallyequal length and said upper layer extends past one end of the otherlayers of plastic material to provide said tongue member.
 6. Atourniquet according to claim 5 wherein said upper and intermediatelayers of plastic material are provided with aligned openings, a fittingis attached to said envelope member in alignment with said openings, andsaid upper and intermediate layers of plastic material are sealedtogether around said openings.